NASCIO Resources

Released in conjunction with NASCIO's 2009 Best Practices in the Use of Information Technology in State Government Awards, this booklet contains summaries of innovative state government programs in the following areas: Cross-Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships; Data, Information and Knowledge Management; Digital Government – G to B; Digital Government – G to C; Digital Government – G to G; Enterprise IT Management Initiatives; Improving State Operations; Information Communications Technology (ICT) Innovations; Open Government Initiatives; and Risk Management Initiatives.

People put a lot of trust in state governments to collect, maintain and protect the appropriate information necessary to execute their programs, protect individual rights, and ensure public safety. The volume of that information expands at an ever-increasing pace, and maintenance and protection of that information, particularly where it involves Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Personal Health Information (PHI), becomes more and more challenging. The 2010 Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study finds that states need to do more to secure citizen data and maintain public trust.

In the summer of 2010, NASCIO’s Social Media Working Group implemented a survey of social media adoption by state governments to clarify existing use of social media by states and extend its knowledge of how the tools are being deployed in state governments across the country. The survey examined adoption trends, current applications and expectations of social media technologies, the extent to which implementation is governed by formal policies or individual agency initiative, and perceptions of risk associated with social media tool use. This brief reports on the survey results, and makes recommendations about next steps states need to take as they adapt these tools to expand engagement with citizens and improve government programs.

Investment in business intelligence and business analytics must be driven by enterprise strategic intent. Proper leverage of analytics should start with a clear understanding of the outcomes state government is trying to achieve. This issue brief presents the rationale for analytics using the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture Value Chain as a framework for organizing the thinking and the questions which eventually drive investment in analytics capabilities. It builds on the foundational concepts discussed in NASCIO’s first issue brief on this subject, and strongly recommends an enterprise approach. Without an enterprise approach to analytics, investment across the enterprise is un-orchestrated and uncoordinated. That creates redundant investment in tools and training, and creates barriers to cross line of business collaboration. State government can not afford redundant and disconnected investment. One of the values of enterprise architecture is the management, optimization and simplification of investment within state government. Proper investment and application of analytics is essential to deploying effective and efficient government services. Finally, the level of complexity of analytical methods and tools depends on the complexity of the decisions and the issues.